The amount of water supplied from the mains to a property may be measured using a water meter. The amount of water used is determined based on a meter reading and a customer is then charged a corresponding amount for the water supplied. Tampering of water meters such that the measured water used does not reflect the actual water used is a problem for water utility companies at least for the reason that this leads to a loss of revenue.
For meters equipped for Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), consumption, diagnostic and status data from the water meter may be automatically uploaded to a remote database for subsequent billing or other analysis over a communication network such as a fixed or wireless network, or by walk-by or drive-by meter reading. This has the advantage that the water company does not have to periodically visit each supplied property to carry out meter readings. Tampering of such meters can involve removing the meter from the mains network delivering water to the property such that water consumption is not accurately measured and hence data uploaded does not reflect actual water usage at the property. Since water companies have no need to visit each supplied property to take meter readings, this fraudulent use can often go undetected.
One approach to identify fraudulent use is to provide mechanical features on the meters, for example seals such that a broken seal indicates that the meter has been tampered with. However, this approach requires the water company to visit the property to inspect the meter and the seals which is both time consuming and costly. Another approach is to develop a consumption profile for the property and to identify potentially fraudulent use based on an amount of deviation from this profile. However, it is difficult to determine whether the meter has in fact been tampered with or whether there are other reasons for the deviation from the profile, for example, the occupant may have left the property for a period of time or the number of occupants may have changed. Therefore it is again difficult to determine whether the suspicions of tampering are well founded without inspecting the meter itself.
Accordingly, a means for detection of a water meter having been tampered with is required which addresses these problems.